You are looking at a survivor. This carousel was built in 1916 by the Allan Herschell Company, a firm that only managed to produce four large carousels of this scale between 1915 and 1927. It spent its early life working an amusement park in the eastern United States before moving to San Diego in 1977.
The woodwork is the real point here. There are 35 hand-carved jumping wooden horses. The ones on the outer rim have gentle faces and deep, detailed carving that makes them a rarity, even by the standards of the Herschell company. Two hand-carved chariots also join the ranks, though they currently double as benches.
After being restored in 1997, the carousel began operating in Chase Palm Park in Santa Barbara in 1999. The carousel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. The company broke its lease due to winter revenues in 2017. The facility closed after a weekend carnival in early December 2017, with free rides for everyone.
The carousel is now stationed at a museum of historically significant carousels in Hood River, Oregon. The museum in Hood River was scheduled to open in 2019.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Kyle McLonely
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